I've replaced the door gasket with success and thought I'd share my learning. This is an easy two-man job. Working alone is possible, but would have been a lot more work. I proceeded as follows:
- Start by placing the gasket in the dryer for about 5 minutes on low heat. This warms up the gasket, makes it pliable, and helps it to resume its original shape - not perfect shape, but better than how it was shipped.
- The inner door shell holds the gasket in place with this model so slightly loosen the existing screws and gently pull out the old gasket from under the shell. Do not remove the screws completely or you may have problems re-aligning the inner door shell.
- I began installing the new gasket at the top of the door. There is a lip on the gasket that needs to slide into a groove in the door shell. I loosened the screws a little further to create more room for inserting the gasket.
- When I had the top and the two sides inserted, I tightened the top and side screws about 3/4 way down the sides leaving enough play for the bottom still to flex.
- The corners were the hardest part to insert and get to lay flat correctly. I used a small screw driver to smooth the gasket around the corners. Be gentle not to damage the door or the gasket for this step.
- I now started working the bottom from one side to the other and tightened the screws as I worked across the bottom trailing with the tightening just enough to allow flex for insertion of the gasket.
- The last corner was the trickiest, but will smooth out assuming you are patient and keep gently working the gasket and inner door shell.
- It was very helpful to have a second person holding out the door shell while I inserted the gasket.
- Once the gasket was properly in place, I ensured all of the screws were tight and checked the seal on the door to the refrigerator.
- There were several locations where the gasket did not seal correctly to the refrigerator. Using a hair dryer, I was able to gently heat and work the gasket with my fingers to smooth out the remaining kinks in the gasket. This process took me about a 1/2 hour and the door now closes correctly and has a tight seal.
- Lastly, I loosened the top hinge on the top door and gently realigned the door to ensure the gap between the gasket and middle hinge hardware. It appears to be a poor design/flaw since the gasket still slightly contacts the middle hinge with the gasket completely smoothed out and the door aligned correctly with the top of the refrigerator. Since the first gasket lasted close to 15 years, I'm assuming I will replace the refrigerator prior to the new gasket failing.
- Good luck and be patient with the process. Start to finish install time was roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes with two people.